MORTAL SINS
Cop teams up with vicar in ‘Grantchester’
Robson Green (“Strike Back”) and Tom Brittney (“Outlander”) solve murders in a picturesque British town in Season 5 of “Grantchester,” premiering Sunday.
What more do the people of Grantchester have to hide? You’d be surprised. Your favourite British crime drama is back again, and it’s gaining momentum after some major changes. You can see the Season 5 premiere of “Grantchester” when it airs Sunday, June 14, on PBS.
The fictional show is set in the reallife town of Grantchester, England, characterized by rolling hills, countryside picnics, and, apparently, murder. Throughout the show’s run, the picturesque town has seen some of the most gruesome murders and crimes imaginable. While Insp. Geordie Keating (Robson Green, “Strike Back”) is on the case, he can’t do it alone, and he relies on the town’s vicar, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney, “Outlander”), to help him out. Geordie knows the value of an inside man who knows many of the town’s secrets.
As the show returns for a reinvigorated season with new faces and characters, you’ll see some of your old favourites still knocking around Grantchester. The reliable Tessa Peake-Jones (“After Louise,” 2019) returns as the newlywed Mrs. Chapman, formerly Mrs. Maguire. Cathy Keating (Kacey Ainsworth, “EastEnders”), the inspector’s wife, is also back, as well as the gentle curate, Leonard Finch (Al Weaver, “Colette,” 2018).
Last season, we met Amelia Davenport (Jemma Redgrave, “Howards End,” 1992), who is Will’s mother, and she returns this season. Fans will meet two brand new characters in the upcoming episodes: Diana (Paula Wilcox, “Mount Pleasant”), Cathy Keating’s mother, who brings some psychological elements to the story as she struggles with bipolar disorder, and Ellie Harding (Lauren Carse, “The Mallorca Files”), a reporter who becomes fast friends with Will — it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops and whether there is another love connection around the corner.
If you haven’t been watching “Grantchester” from the beginning, you may not know that Will was not the original vicar of Grantchester. In fact, his face is practically new to the series.
The town’s leading clergy was previously Sidney Chambers (James Norton, “Little Women,” 2019), who left the show towards the beginning of last season. Chambers, who loved God, jazz and drinking, was the tour-de-force that gave the show its momentum. Broken after serving in the war, he learned tough and compelling lessons about faith and love and repentance. His character made the ultimate choice between his deep love for Amanda Kendall (Morven Christie, “The A Word”) and the church to which he had planned to dedicate his life. We were crushed by his tear-jerking departure, but his exit made sense and allowed for new blood to be pumped into the show’s ever-pulsing plot.
All these deep and brooding characters are actually based on those in the series of novels known as The Grantchester Mysteries, written by James Runcie. Like their television counterpart, the books are also set in the town of Grantchester and follow Canon Sidney Chambers in his crime-solving efforts. Published between 2012 and 2017, there are six books in the set, and interestingly, each book is actually made up of multiple short stories, much like the tales of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but these midcentury tales have a lot more emotion driving their main characters.
The show that’s grown from the rich soil of Runcie’s books first aired in October 2014 and is produced by Masterpiece and Lovely Day. It features Diederick Santer (“Jane Eyre”) and Rebecca Eaton (“Sherlock”) as executive producers and has been met with high praise from both fans and critics, scoring an impressive 95 per cent from Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s safe to say the show is in good hands. With his excellent performances in both “Outlander” and “Call the Midwife,” Brittney is the perfect choice to play the dreamy-eyed Will and has successfully ushered in a new wave of intrigue and drama. This vicar is much younger than the last and represents a generational shift that was happening across Britain during the late 1950s. Will is not haunted by the war, and he starts off high on an ecclesiastical pedestal, perfectly positioned for a fall from grace. With so many avenues for his character to take, it’ll be exciting to see where Season 5 of “Grantchester” takes him.